Nearly seven years after 17-year-old Victoria Marquina – a bright, pregnant high school student full of dreams – vanished from her quiet California hometown, her former boyfriend is finally behind bars, facing charges that could send him to prison for life.

A grand jury in Amador County indicted Joshua Anthony Martinez, 28, this week on first-degree murder and related minor sex crime charges in connection with Marquina’s 2019 disappearance, the Amador County District Attorney’s Office announced. Victoria’s body has never been recovered, and authorities are now racing against time to locate her remains and those of her unborn child.

Martinez, who was 21 at the time and an early person of interest, had been released in 2020 due to a lack of evidence. The two had been involved in what San Joaquin District Attorney Ron Freitas described as “a whirlwind, very fast relationship and very short.” They had met just one month earlier on a dating app – where Martinez later claimed the teen had lied about her age – and Marquina soon discovered she was pregnant.

“She became pregnant almost immediately,” Freitas said Monday. “It was intense, emotional, and over far too quickly.”

Marquina was last seen alive on October 9, 2019, in Livingston, California, riding with Martinez. Four days later, her car was found abandoned in Escalon, more than 50 miles away. Martinez fled to Mexico shortly afterward, only to be extradited back to the United States. In initial interviews, he told investigators he had simply dropped her off in Sutter Creek before heading south. He has always maintained his innocence – until now.

For years, the case went cold. Marquina’s heartbroken family refused to give up. They raised more than $60,000 in reward money, plastered flyers across three counties, and begged the public for any information. Victoria’s mother, Blance Valencia, clung to hope with quiet strength, telling CBS News Sacramento: “She had many dreams. Many dreams. Unfortunately, someone cut us off. But I still have faith, I still have hope that she will return home. If you know something… please communicate.”

That fragile hope was brutally shattered this week inside the courtroom.

During a closed preliminary hearing just days after the indictment, Martinez stunned everyone when he suddenly changed his plea and began confessing in graphic detail. According to sources close to the proceedings and family members present, the 28-year-old calmly described how he and Victoria had argued violently in his car after she refused to consider an abortion. “She kept saying the baby was ours and we had to make it work,” he allegedly told the court. “I panicked. I put my hands around her neck and I didn’t stop until she was gone.”

He then admitted driving her lifeless body – and the remains of their unborn child – to a remote, unmarked spot in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Amador County, where he buried them in a shallow grave under brush and rocks. He provided vague coordinates and even sketched a rough map for investigators, claiming he had covered the site with fallen logs to hide any trace. The confession, delivered in a flat, emotionless tone, reportedly caused Victoria’s mother to collapse in the gallery, sobbing uncontrollably. Family members later described the moment as “pure torture,” saying Martinez looked directly at them while recounting the details, almost as if he wanted them to suffer.

“He didn’t just kill my daughter,” Blance Valencia said outside the courthouse, her voice trembling with fresh agony. “He stood there and painted every horrible second like it was nothing. He took away our hope, our dreams, and now he’s taken our peace. How do we even begin to heal from this?”

District Attorney Freitas confirmed the grim reality: “Victoria is dead. We are now focused entirely on locating her remains and the remains of her unborn child so the family can finally lay them to rest.”

Martinez faces life in prison without parole if convicted. He is scheduled to return to court on April 6 for arraignment on the new charges. His defense attorney did not respond to requests for comment.

The once-cold case has suddenly reignited with painful intensity. Search teams equipped with cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar are already preparing to follow the leads from Martinez’s confession. For Victoria’s family, the breakthrough brings no celebration – only a new layer of grief as they confront the brutal truth they had prayed would never come.

Victoria Marquina was remembered by friends and teachers as a joyful, ambitious girl who loved art, wanted to become a nurse, and talked endlessly about the future she would give her child. That future was stolen in a moment of rage – and seven long years later, her family is finally hearing the words they both dreaded and desperately needed to hear.